NOTE: UBB.threads 7.6.1 was released on January 1, 2018.At this time, UBB.threads version 7.6.1 is work in progress. Its current code will change several more times before being published to the Member Area on https://www.ubbcentral.com. This *WORK IN PROGRESS* code is not available for purchase or download (other than by our current group of testers). This series of progress reports is being made public to share the development progress on UBB.threads version 7.6.1. Items may be pulled from the final release or may be reworked to have a different presentation than what is depicted in this post. This is very much WORK IN PROGRESS and not by any means "final."

In an attempt to make the ongoing development status more obvious, these changelog notes are being mirrored from UBBDev.com.

SnapshotsAs a general concept which many developers follow when writing complex software, is to regularly make available "Snapshot" releases to all the testers. Snapshot builds are generated right before moving forward with another large change. They allow the testers to evaluate features. and review the software as it is being developed.

As a general source control (version control) term, a snapshot version indicates a view of the source code taken at a specific time. This is not necessarily stable or ready for full use and can be changed in the future, as opposed to a release version which is stable and should be final and ready for a general release.

Snapshots are also used where if a bug gets introduced in development, we can go backwards a few snapshot steps to see where that bug started, and then easily handle it.

Changelog 2017-02-28[NEW] Minify HTML Page Output - Can be toggled within the Control Panel[UPDATE] Update Smarty from version 2.6 to 3.1[FIX] Viewing Subscriptions in CP would display a blank header and sidebar.

Minify HTML Page OutputWhen this feature is enabled, it will remove all unnecessary characters from a page's html without changing its functionality. The process removes unnecessary characters which usually include white space characters, new line characters, and comments, which are used to add readability to the code but are not required for it to execute. Because minification reduces the size of code, minified code requires less data to be transferred. As a result, it loads faster, helping to decrease page load times.

Changelog 2017-03-01[NEW] Smooth Scroll has been added to all the "Top" jumpers.[NEW] Smooth Scroll has been added to all the post/message "Preview" buttons.[UPDATE] Anchors are no longer added tot he URL when when clicking the "Top" jumper under each post.[FIX] Blank columns would display on some pages, when "Only Show [Left/Right] Column On The Portal" was checked.

Changelog 2017-03-04[NEW] Fetch_ip function will retrieve the correct Client IP address from the set server globals instead of relying on REMOTE_ADDR. This function is useful for sites that are behind a CDN or Firewall, or for clients who are accessing the site behind a proxy. Author: James Corthell[FIX] BBcode would insert html line breaks for PHP, HTML, and SQL BBcode Code tags.

Progress Update 2017-03-10Two days were spent working on the PHP7 updates. No problems updating the actual files. But support for global variables has been dropped from PHP7. Because of this, I believe that all UBB.threads libs/ will need to be rewritten in to classes and functions to fully work with PHP7.

Another two more days were spent working on the MySQLi database connector. It is working just fine. Looking forward, a connector for pgsql could also probably be added.

About four days in total, just for these two single items. Both items of which, will be pushed in to a future version. But the version will need a major numbering bump.

[FIX] Fixed many minor related items along the way. Current installs will not notice an difference, since these fixes were mostly upgrading PHP4 left-overs to be correctly PHP5 formatted, which is also PHP7 compatible.

Changelog 2017-03-11[NEW] Control Panel Dashboard now shows developer updates if installed version is not release version.[UPDATE] Move the Version information out of the language files.[UPDATE] Display additional information when unable to connect to the database.[UPDATE] Functions no longer use the same name as their class (PHP4/5 => PHP5/7)

Changelog 2017-03-13[NEW] Control Panel Subscription Details page can now be printed. The print version removes all admin menu elements and background colors. The output is suitable for sending hard-copy or emailing PDF transaction receipts to your subscribers.[UPDATE] Control Panel menu has been slightly rearranged to place Subscriptions section below the Permissions section[UPDATE] Control Panel Subscriptions section item names have been updated to more clearly reflect what each item does. This should also help remove confusion between "Subscription Groups" and "Permission Groups."[UPDATE] Control Panel "Subscriptions Group" and "Edit Subscriptions Group" have been given descriptions and directions regarding making subscriptions inactive or deleting.

Changelog 2017-03-15[UPDATE] "My Stuff" menu has been moved from the NavBar and is now combined with the User Name as a drop-down menu. This drop-down menu is no longer tied to the "Show My Stuff menu on Left" setting within the display preference settings.[UPDATE] "Register" link has been moved from the NavBar and it now in the top bar next to the Log In links.[UPDATE] "Mail Flasher" link has also been moved to the top bar next to the User Name. If the user has no new Private Messages, an empty envelop will display. When clicked, this empty envelope will take the user to their Private Message listing just as the normal/non-drop-down "My Stuff" menu link would do.[UPDATE] "Log Out" link has been moved to the bottom of the User Name as a drop-down menu. This location is consistent with other modern websites and desktop applications.[FIX] When creating a new Private Message, the "Add Users From Friend List" drop-down menu will not be displayed if the user has a blank "Friend List."[FIX] Showflat post author information has been cleaned up and no longer displays unnecessary line breaks.[FIX] Breadcrumb bar spacing fixes all over.

Note: The attached screenshots were each taken from two different forums. One forum (wip) allows unregistered users to view the User List and shows the User List link, the other forum (ubbcentral) does not.

Changelog 2017-03-27[NEW] Attached images are now automatically resized at the time of upload to be no larger than the "Full Image Max Width/Height" dimensions set within the Control Panel.[NEW] Attached images are now automatically compressed at the time of upload to the "Full Image Quality" set within the Control Panel.[UPDATE] Attachment/Poll Manager now opens in the same window as your newpost/newreply/editpost window.[UPDATE] Attachment/Poll Manager now resizes based on its content..[FIX] Attachment/Poll Manager now updates the file/poll count with each change. Previously this update would require a button click from the user.[FIX] Fixed a few misc HTML validation issues and more pages have been updated to HTML5 specs.

Changelog 2017-04-10[NEW] Facebook sharing has been added. This is in addition to the "Like" which was already available.[UPDATE] Twitter sharing text has been cleaned up and includes the thread Subject and URL.[FIX] Twitter and Facebook buttons on posts have been updated to use secure https URLs.[FIX] Twitter and Facebook buttons on posts have been updated to use their current APIs.[FIX] Twitter and Facebook buttons on posts are now mobile-friendly. The buttons now also align correctly.

Changelog 2017-04-10.2[FIX] File Manager now displays a message on the same page when the max number attachments has been reached, and prevents you from adding more items until you delete a previous item. Previously the user would be taken to a new a new page which displayed the error, but there was no way to return back to the File Manager to manage your current files, and it required starting all over again.[FIX] File Manager no longer pushes content off the screen for files with extremely long names. They are now wrapped at the end of the line.[FIX] Fixed some HTML duplication/typos errors within the File Manager.

Changelog 2017-04-11[UPDATE] Signature Preview in user Profile editor page now displays exactly as it would in a post.[UPDATE] All references to maps.google.com have been updated from HTTP to HTTPS.[FIX] Fixed Smarty error in Followed Users Editor.[FIX] Delete Post confirmation page now correctly aligns the button.[FIX] Minor Who's Online HTML fixes.

Changelog 2017-04-26[FIX] UBB.gallery now displays the first image in the group as its main/cover thumbnail on the postlist page.[FIX] UBB.gallery now displays the thumbnail images within each gallery with the correct proportions.[FIX] Minor display fixes all over within the UBB.gallery pages

Changelog 2017-04-30[NEW] Admin Log now records each time a user is checked in StopForumSpam from the UserEditor. If any of the results returned by SFS indicate that the information matches a spammer, an exclamation mark (!) will be added to the end of that item.[NEW] Admin Log now records each time a user is reported to StopForumSpam from the UserEditor.

Animated gif compression and dimension reduction are still known issues, especially with icon-sized animated gifs. Its recommended to upload animated gifs as an attached file archive to a forum post rather than a gallery post -- especially since gallery posts can sometimes provide content for the left/right columns and also display previews in the UBB.gallery post listing.This has been fixed 2017-09-20. Animated GIFs are now working as expected for the ImageMagik graphics library. Tested versions of GD2 cannot reliably process animated GIFs.

Changelog 2017-05-02[NEW] The current forum config file is now backed up before new changes are saved. Normally there would be no need for this step, though an incorrectly configured server or php.ini setting may cause havoc and corrupt the new config file creation process. A forum owner can now roll back to their backup config file, if the new one was corrupted upon its creation.

Changelog 2017-05-08[UPDATE] Control Panel now sends you directly to the Log In page if you are not logged in and attempt to access it. No more forwarding message.[UPDATE] Control Panel now presents the logged in user with a clean "No Access" page when they do not have sufficient access to view the Control Panel page.[FIX] The login page can now return you back to the page you were previously viewing just before logging in.

Changelog 2017-09-03[NEW] Post and Gallery attachments now display their file information on hover-over.[NEW] Control Panel now displays the Post Attachments count and total size, as stored in the database.[NEW] Control Panel now displays the Post Attachments count and total size, as stored on disk. Because this process can be disk intensive for forums with massive attachment directories, this option is displayed when debugging is enabled.[UPDATE] Minor updates to the Control Panel to make it easier to navigate with mobile devices.[UPDATE] Multiple language updates within the Control Panel for consistency, clarity, and layout improvement.[UPDATE] UBBCentral forums has made the switch from http to https. All the links within the UBB.threads software have been updated from http to https.[FIX] Image Manager (Galleries) now display image previews for image attachments.

Changelog 2017-09-04[NEW] The Control Panel Cache Manager will now purge files in the /tmp directory, and orphaned file entries in the database older than 2 hours.[FIX] The Attachment Manager will now purge orphaned file entries in the database older than 2 hours.

Changelog 2017-09-12[NEW] Posts will now display an "OP" next to the name of the "Original Poster" (and "Original Post"). This badge can be customized through the Style Editor for each of your custom forum styles.[UPDATE] Post display has been updated for improved display on mobile devices for both Post Layout styles, "User info on side" and "User info on top." This update allows for the same author information to be displayed on desktop and mobile devices.[FIX] Post layout, "User info on top," has been fixed.[FIX] Showflat post_side and post_top will now correctly display the nopicture.gif image when a user has not set a picture for their avatar.[FIX] Showflat post_top avatar display has been fixed for when a user has linked to a large image using an external URL for their avatar.

Changelog 2017-10-10[NEW] New Settings drop-down menu has been added. This menu replaces the "My Stuff" menu, and will display regardless of whether your site profile has "My Account menu list as a left navigation menu" or not. This new menu displays quick information regarding your account, such as Post count and Private Message count, your Avatar and Display name. It also will allow you to quickly jump to those areas or jump to any other Account related page.[NEW] New "Attachments" page has been added to the Control Panel. The settings on this page will allow you to control the size and compression of image attachments in posts and galleries. It will also allow you to disable original image resizes and/or compression managements. Documentation and default values are also displayed on this page.[NEW] New Posts will now display a "NEW" indicator in the post subject/details bar. It has its own language file entry and can be easily updated to whatever phrase/language works best with your forums. It can be customized within the Style Editor as .post-new, per each Custom Style.[NEW] Posts by the thread author now have an "OP" indicator next to their user name. It can be customized within the Style Editor as .post-op, per each Custom Style. This should help readers more easily identify who is the thread's Original Poster (The person who began the current thread) in long threads.[NEW] New default avatars will be displayed for users who do not have an custom profile avatar. The avatar is a square with the first letter of that user's Display Name within it. It can be customized within the Style Editor as .avatar-none, per each Custom Style. This should help readers better identify who is commenting on the current topic.[NEW] Long pages now will display a "Return to Top" chevron that can be clicked on to return the user back to the top of the page. It can be customized within the Style Editor as #top-button, per each Custom Style. This button will scroll the page back up to the top, and will not change the URL in any way. Previously, a "Top" text link displayed next every post, and within the footer of every page. It would also add a "#top" to the end of the URL.[UPDATE] The "My Stuff" menu is now "My Account."[UPDATE] Private Messages indicator is now always displayed, making it easy for you to visit your Private Messages from any page. The classic/iconic flashing New Message indicator has been put to rest. If you have new messages, the envelope will be displayed in red. this is incorrect. The "flashing message indicator" lives another day. Sorry, not sorry [UPDATE] Topics can now be re-rated. If Topic Ratings are enabled, users can update their previous topic ratings. (Thanks to Mark_S for this suggestion!)[UPDATE] Topic Ratings menu has been completely updated. Star count and rating name (from Excellent to Terrible) is now displayed next to the rating. Users can mouse-over the rating button to view the number of ratings and the average rating. Users who have previously rated the topic will now have their previous rating displayed and preselected when they click on the thread rating button.[UPDATE] Gallery List has been updated to present a clean and consistent display of Gallery details. Gallery ratings can now also be displayed along the same line as the Gallery details without wrapping to a new line.[UPDATE] Style Previews within the Style Editor have all been updated to represent the updated forum layouts and tags.[UPDATE] Active Topics layout has been adjusted to display a the first section of each listed post. Post formatting is no longer removed.[UPDATE] Custom Titles are now shown in Italic font. Forum Group Titles remain in regular font. This is an attempt to bring more attention to the user's custom title, and help prevent users from faking a "Moderator" or "Admin" title where forums dont usually use Profile Badges for these groups.[UPDATE] Several language strings have been updated, with a few new ones being added, and the unused ones being removed.[UPDATE] Updated html5shiv library from 3.7.2 to version 3.7.3[FIX] User Avatar sizes on posts have been fixed.[FIX] User Avatars are now displayed on Mobile screens.[FIX] Gallery Threads now display the OP with the exact same style as post_top/mobile layout. All author details that are found within regular threads, are now displayed on Gallery threads.[FIX] Any code and page validation errors that were found, were fixed. There were a few of each.

Changelog 2017-10-18[NEW] The My Account (formerly named, "My Stuff" menu) menu now displays item images, and is given proper padding between each item.[UPDATE] Style descriptions have been added for the four new styles from the previous changelog.[UPDATE] Updated PHPMailer library from 5.2.24 to version 5.2.25[UPDATE] Updated Dropzone asset from 4.3.0 to version 5.2.0[UPDATE] Multiple language updates and html adjustments.

Changelog 2017-10-20[UPDATE] When the left navigation menu is enabled in the "My Account" section (formerly named "My Stuff"), it will only display when there is enough screen width. Otherwise, then it will be hidden (ie, for smartphones on portrait mode). This update is intended to make field entry boxes easy to read and enter, without squishing the content or scrolling the page off the screen on mobile devices. it is seamless on smartphones held in portrait vs landscape, and on tablets such as Apple's iPad.

Changelog 2017-11-06[NEW]Google reCAPTCHA v2 API has been added. When enabled, it will be used in place of the classic CAPTCHA system. (see attached example)[NEW] Added an option within the Primary/Advanced Settings to always "Expand Control Panel Sections" on key Control Panel pages. Thanks to Mark_S for requesting this![NEW] Responsive layout on mobile devices (viewport) can be disabled from the Control Panel. This setting disables responsive pages for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. All pages viewed on mobile devices will have a desktop style layout similar to the old non-mobile versions of UBB.threads (v7.5.x and older).[NEW] New Style has been added, "Ventura - Pine"[UPDATE] CAPTCHA Settings group has been added to the Control Panel within the General settings section. (see attached screenshot)[UPDATE] CAPTCHA graphics libraries examples will now display the GL being used within each preview.[UPDATE] Registration settings now only asks if you'd like to have CAPTCHA Verification enabled. It no longer asks the duplicate question of which Graphics Library to use. The GL setting is configured within the General Settings section as CAPTCHA w/ GD2 or IM, or use the ReCAPTCHA API.[UPDATE] The new 7.6.1 style set, "Ventura - Open" has been renamed to, "Ventura Open." The default style being used on UBBCentral is a slightly customized version of "Ventura Open - Ink."[UPDATE] Social/Sharing Settings group has been added to the Control Panel within the General settings section. (see attached screenshot)[UPDATE] Shareaholic setup directions have been updated to reflect the most recent changes on the shareaholic.com admin dashboard. A direct link to that dashboard is now also included to make setting up and configuring this API easier.[UPDATE] Debugging toggle description has been added to explain which features are enabled/disabled when debugging is toggled. As always, If you are not actively debugging a site issue, its advised to have debugging mode turned off.[UPDATE] Multiple language entries have been updated to further ease of use, and retain consistent terminology across the entire forum package.[FIX] CAPTCHA now display correctly when the config variables cannot be passed through the url due to higher server security settings within php. This was a long-standing bug from at least UBBT 7.5.0. It has now been fixed.

Changelog 2017-12-17[UPDATE] Lots of Control Panel updates and fixes, including a color pallet update to its overall appearance, Improved menus and layout corrections all over the place.[UPDATE] Base css files (common.css and admin.css) have been cleaned up and optimized.[UPDATE] SQL Backup now works as expected, and is quicker. (ex. my "sandbox" database is about 370MB. Total time for backup of all UBB.threads tables was about 30 minutes. Before the update, that task took about 75 minutes.)[UPDATE] SQL Backup progress information is now displayed.[UPDATE] SQL Backup task, and start/end times are now added to the Admin Log.[UPDATE] SQL Backup now adds information to the file header of when and where the backup came from, along with useful server and database specs.[UPDATE] Minor updates to Subscription page layouts within the Control Panel.[UPDATE] User Registration Queue pages have been polished. They now also display the registrations in reverse chronological order (newest is first).[UPDATE] To resolve an issue some sites have for displaying the User Registration Queue page when they have put little effort in to approving new registrations (or have just woke up to find their forum spammed by a new registration bot -- use that ReCaptia ), now only the last 50 are displayed at a time. There is a warning notice shown when you reach 50+ registrations waiting.[FIX] Control Panel display corrections for IPv6 addresses.

Changelog 2017-12-18[UPDATE] Updated Smarty library from 3.1.30 to version 3.1.31[UPDATE] Updated Font Awesome library from 4.7.0 to version 5.0.1[UPDATE] Updated Lightbox asset from 2.9.0 to version 2.10.0

UBB.threads 7.6.1.1 Patch -- Changelog 2018-01-09[FIX] Fixed a Login bug where if you had Spider-friendly URLs disabled and attempted to login, the page would display a "File not found" error message above the login options.[FIX] Permissions within the Control Panel will no longer display a blank entry when the field is null. Those fields are now displayed as just "0" (Disabled).[FIX] Fixed an IE10/11 user avatar display bug.[FIX] Fixed missing sticky image and poll image display on the post list.[UPDATE] Permissions description within the Control Panel has been updated for simplicity and to further clarify the available entries.[UPDATE] "Max File Size for Displaying Attached Images Inline" has been moved to the main Attachments settings page within the Control Panel.[UPDATE] Updated Font Awesome library from 5.0.1 to version 5.0.4[NEW] The Forum Jumper menu can now return you to the current forum's index page when clicking on "Hop To".[NEW] Attachment Display is now customizable between Grouped or Inlined. Grouped images are displayed as thumbnails grouped together under the post. Inlined images are displayed at full width (while still fitting within the post width) just under the post text.

The items listed above are part of the "Release Refresh" that was pushed to the Member Area on UBBCentral. These items are primarily related to fixing functionality and display issues discussed with solutions on the UBBCentral forums within the first single week of release. The remaining items are feature requests that just happen to have made it in to this patch (possibly by magic).